Homeless man arrested after high-speed chase

A 44-year-old homeless man was arrested late Monday after leading deputies on a meandering, high-speed, vehicle chase and a brief chase on foot through Bradenton and Manatee County, authorities said.

Steven M. Rosenwinkel was taken into custody shortly before midnight, and faces charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, fleeing to elude, leaving the scene of an accident and driving with a suspended license as a habitual traffic offender, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

The incident started when a deputy spotted Rosenwinkel driving east along Cortez Road at a high rate of speed, reports noted. The deputy followed as Rosenwinkel pulled into a parking lot along Fifth Street West, just off Cortez. Still in the parking lot, Rosenwinkel maneuvered his vehicle and raced directly at the squad car of the deputy, who veered out of the way.

The suspect then rolled westbound on Cortez, turned north onto 14th Street West and was briefly out of sight, before a second deputy picked up the pursuit at 30th Avenue West and Ninth Street West, according to reports. Rosenwinkel eventually was stopped in the 6800 block of 14th Street by stop-sticks deployed to flatten his vehicle's tires, deputies reported, after a seven-minute chase during which speeds never topped 90 mph.

Rosenwinkel tried to run from the scene, deputies stated, but was brought down by a canine unit. He was taken to Lakewood Ranch Medical Center for treatment of a dog bite and what was described as a "minor injury."

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